1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a plasma display panel and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a plasma display panel and a method of manufacturing the same for preventing data electrode from being reacted with the sodium component contained in a back glass to change its color or to be cut while the data electrodes are formed on a back plate constructing the plasma display panel, thereby improving the quality of the back plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a conventional display device employing a cathode-ray tube is difficult to manufacture and requires a wide space for its placement, as image display devices become large-sized. In addition, the display device having the cathode-ray tube is so heavy that it is not easy to handle.
In comparison with the conventional display using the cathode-ray tube, a plasma display panel that expresses images using gas discharge phenomenon can easily realize complete flat screen and large-size panel. Furthermore, it is possible to manufacture a thin plasma display panel so that a space for placement of the panel is easily secured. Owing to these advantages, the plasma display panel is being spotlighted as a next-generation display device.
The configuration of the conventional plasma display panel is explained below with reference to the attached FIGS. 1 to 3B. FIG. 1 is a disassembled perspective view showing a part of the conventional plasma display panel having stripe-type barriers, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view roughly showing the combined structure of front and back plates shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, the plasma display panel has the front plate 10 that is the image-displaying plane of the plasma display panel, and the back plate 12 placed back of the front plate 10. The front and back plates 10 and 12 are combined with each other in parallel, having a predetermined gap between them. The front plate 10 is constructed in such a manner that a plurality of scan electrodes 16 and sustain electrodes 18 are alternately arranged in parallel on one side of a front glass 14 having a predetermined interval, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of each scan electrode 16 and each sustain electrode 18 forming a unit cell. In addition, a first dielectric layer 20a covers the scan electrodes 16 and the sustain electrodes 18 formed on the front glass 14, and a MgO protection layer 22 for protecting the dielectric layer from discharge shock is formed on the first dielectric layer.
The scan electrodes 16 and the sustain electrodes 18 are formed in a manner that an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) transparent conductive layer is formed with a predetermined width on the front glass 14 and a metal electrode made of Ag, for example, is formed at one side of the ITO transparent conductive layer as a bus electrode.
The back plate 12 opposite to the front plate 10 is constructed in such a manner that a plurality of data electrodes 26 are arranged on one side of a back glass 24, perpendicularly intersecting the scan electrodes 16 and the sustain electrodes 18, and a second dielectric layer 20b covers the data electrodes 26, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Stripe-type barriers 28 are placed in parallel and extended along the direction of the length of the data electrodes 26. Each of the barriers is placed between the neighboring data electrodes 26. Fluorescent materials 30a, 30b and 30c with R, G, B colors are sequentially coated between the barriers 28.
The front plate 10 and the back plate 12 are located opposite to each other so that the data electrodes 26 intersect the scan electrodes 16 and the sustain electrodes 18 perpendicularly. These two plates are combined with each other in a manner that their edges are fused to each other using a sealing member 32 configured of frit glass, for example. Here, the data electrodes 26 are conventionally formed through a printing or photography using Ag paste or photosensitive paste containing Ag so that the data electrodes 26 formed of this component are frequently reacted with the sodium component contained in the back glass 24 during heat treatment, to be discolored or cut.
In a conventional technique to solve this problem, an under layer such as SiO2 film having no sodium component is formed between the back glass 24 and the data electrodes 26 and baked to stick on the back glass, and then the data electrodes 26 are formed on the overall surface of the under layer through a conventional method.
However, since the surface of the under layer such as SiO2 film has a lot of protrusions 36, as shown in FIG. 3A, field is concentrated on the data electrodes 26 formed on the under layer to bring about dielectric breakdown and cutting of the electrodes. In addition, it also causes migration of the data electrodes. The protrusions 36 on the surface of the under layer are created based on the state of the plate, grain size of the paste, dispersibility of the paste and so on.
Due to the migration of the data electrodes (Ag electrodes), the under layer cannot support the data electrodes 26 at a high temperature during heat treatment process for baking the data electrodes 26. Thus, the center portion of the data electrodes 26 is inclined toward the back glass 24 and both ends of the data electrodes 26 are relatively edge-curled, in comparison with the center portion, so that discharge voltage applied to the data electrodes is concentrated on both ends of the data electrodes to result in nonuniform discharge voltage, generating dielectric breakdown.
An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma display panel and a method of manufacturing the same for preventing cutting of the data electrodes due to mutual reaction of the back glass and the data electrodes during heat treatment and for maintaining the data electrodes in a uniform shape.
To accomplish the object of the present invention, there is provided a plasma display panel including a front plate constructed in a manner that a plurality of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes, a first dielectric layer and a protection layer are sequentially formed on a glass substrate, a back plate constructed in a manner that a plurality of data electrodes are formed on a glass substrate, barriers formed between the front and back plates to define discharge cells, and fluorescent materials formed between the barriers, the plasma display panel further comprising a transparent electrode layer that is at least partially formed between the glass substrate of the back plate and the data electrodes.
To accomplish the object of the present invention, there is also provided a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel including a front plate constructed in a manner that a plurality of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes, a first dielectric layer and a protection layer are sequentially formed on a glass substrate, a back plate constructed in a manner that a plurality of data electrodes are formed on a glass substrate, barriers formed between the front and back plates to define discharge cells, and fluorescent materials formed between the barriers, the method comprising the steps of: depositing a transparent electrode layer with a predetermined thickness on one side of the glass substrate of the back plate; patterning the transparent electrode layer into patterns each of which corresponds to the pattern of each data electrode; forming the data electrodes on the transparent electrode layer patterns; and forming a second dielectric layer on the overall surface of the glass substrate including the data electrodes.